


A Mark of Stupidity

by AZGirl



Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Angst, Exhaustion, Friendship, Gen, Misunderstanding, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-24
Updated: 2020-10-24
Packaged: 2021-03-09 06:59:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27169661
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AZGirl/pseuds/AZGirl
Summary: Something was off about his new client, but being sleep deprived was really messing with his ability to read people and he couldn’t afford to not take the case. A pre-series fic for Whumptober 2020.
Series: Whumptober 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1952908
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	A Mark of Stupidity

**Author's Note:**

> Another in my limited series of stories written for Whumptober 2020. My original goal was to fill 5 prompts by writing for 5 different fandoms, and with this fic I reached my goal – yay! This time around I’m filling the prompt for Day 23: Exhaustion/Sleep Deprivation.

**ooooooo**

“Sustained exhaustion is not a rite of passage. It’s a mark of stupidity.” ~~~~~ Jason Fried

**ooooooo**

Thomas Magnum tiredly stepped out of the economy-sized car he’d rented, and ambled towards the guest house, looking forward to getting some sleep before he had to go back out again in a few hours.

He’d been working almost non-stop for the last couple of weeks trying to scrape together enough money to pay off the repairs to the Ferrari. Or rather, pay off his debt to Robin’s estate.

Higgins had refused to leave the Ferrari essentially impounded until Magnum could pay for the repairs that weren’t really his fault. She’d even gone so far as to infer she would get the law involved if he didn’t pay the debt in full by the end of the month.

To add insult to injury, Higgins had also refused to allow him the use of any of the other cars kept at the estate, forcing him to rent the crap car he’d been driving. And it truly was an insult to injury, metaphorically speaking, because if he couldn’t afford the repairs to the Ferrari, he certainly couldn’t afford to rent a car for any length of time. Didn’t she realize it would only take him longer to pay the estate back with that kind of daily expense and bad gas mileage hanging over him? At this rate, his amount of debt would get so high he’d never be able to get out from under it.

When he and his friends had decided to move to Hawai’i and get a fresh start after being POWs for over 18 months, they were able to use their back pay and hazard pay to finance their moves and their futures. Well, at least some of them had done that.

He hadn’t been so lucky. He’d had to use up the majority of his money on lawyers regarding the improper (and illegal) disposition of his mother’s estate. 

While his mom had never been rich, she’d been an expert at saving money, and had a fair amount of equity in her house. When his mom had passed away while he’d been a POW, her boyfriend had taken advantage and proclaimed himself her common-law husband despite having only known her for less than a year. The man had liquidated everything, taking the money for himself, and disregarding his mom’s wishes regarding Thomas’ inheritance.

He was _still_ fighting to get the money back, as well as prosecuting the thief, and it wasn’t a cheap process. Every once in a while, he got a small restitution check that had the legal fees already subtracted from it.

Thomas had just enough money to move to Hawai’i, but paying for somewhere to live – even a hole in the wall apartment – would’ve been nearly impossible in the short run, and likely not feasible in the long run given his chosen profession. If Robin hadn’t needed him to run security at the Nest as well as offer up the guest house for him to live in, Thomas didn’t think he’d still be on the islands.

Though he trusted his friends, he hadn’t been able to bring himself to let them know about his financial struggles despite living on the estate of a famous author. If he only drank one beer when they went out, then he was merely cutting down on his alcohol intake.

He’d been in a dark place after learning about his mom’s passing while he’d been a prisoner, which had only become blacker with the legal fight against his mom’s thieving boyfriend. His brothers had worried about him when they should’ve been taking care of themselves after their ordeal as POWs. It had been one of the main reasons he’d not told them about his financial problems. Besides, he felt they had some inkling despite him keeping quiet about the issue, and was thankful they hadn’t confronted him about it.

So here he was taking case after case after case to make as much money as possible, so he could get Higgins off of his back about repaying the money he owed. And it was a lot. Fixing a high-end car took a high-end repair shop and required expensive parts.

The whole thing hadn’t even been his fault. Not really, anyway.

He’d been surveilling a local hotel from the Ferrari, hoping to catch a cheating wife in the act. Instead, he’d come across upon a cheating _husband_ , or more accurately, the guy had stumbled upon him with a lead pipe in his hands, mistakenly believing Magnum was spying on them. The guy had absolutely nothing to do with his case either.

Thomas had managed to escape with just a glancing blow to his shoulder, but the Ferrari had taken a few very expensive hits before that. The entire engine hood needed to be replaced, and he was on the hook for the damages because his actual client, Hillerman, had refused to pay them even though they stemmed from the man’s case. _And_ that was after Magnum had gotten proof of the wife’s infidelity, saving Hillerman millions of dollars in divorce proceedings due to an infidelity clause in the prenuptial agreement.

He’d only been paid his fee plus the usual expenses, but the repair bill for the Ferrari had been summarily rejected. Despite the damage occurring during the course of the case, he decided it wasn’t worth fighting, especially when he couldn’t afford to do it in the first place.

For some reason, Higgins had been hard on his case to pay back the money, and it wasn’t like he could approach her about it with the overly-protective Zeus and Apollo around all the time. He knew Robin would think it pocket change, and wouldn’t care how long it took for him to pay it back. Higgins, on the other hand, seemed to believe he had thousands of dollars just lying around, and could easily pay the money back in a month because he had fewer living expenses staying at the Nest. 

He was now down to less than two weeks before Higgins’ deadline expired, and he was struggling to earn the money he owed. Working every day almost all day for this long, Thomas was beyond exhausted. If he managed to get more than three hours a night of sleep, it was practically a miracle. Some nights he’d had to skip sleep all together.

Food had become optional, and not just because he couldn’t really afford it; he was simply too tired most of the time to eat anything. If his friends knew he was skipping so many meals, then they’d be livid, which was why he was mainly avoiding them, citing the need to work a case as the reason. As a POW for so many months, there were potential long-term health effects, so it was imperative he maintain as healthy a lifestyle as possible – something he had definitely not been doing in recent weeks. He was going to be in trouble when they found out.

As a result of his current schedule, Thomas was beginning to slow down, to lose his edge, but somehow he was still managing to get by.

A few hours later, he was on his way to meet his current client to give them the proof that their spouse was cheating on them. He hated cheating spouse cases, because they made him wonder if all relationships were doomed in some fashion. However, he couldn’t exactly be choosy at the moment since he needed the money.

Afterwards, he was to meet a new client. Hopefully, this one would have nothing to do with a cheating spouse, but he doubted it.

During the meeting, something sounded off about his new client’s story, but he couldn’t figure out what it was. Being sleep deprived was really messing with his ability to read people, but he couldn’t afford to not take the case.

He was hired to look into the suicide of his client’s adopted sister, a conclusion the client, Bristow, believed to be incorrect. Bristow had given him a down payment on his fees and expenses which was timely since he was past due on his phone bill and needed to pay it off or risk losing cell service.

After questioning one of the witnesses, Magnum felt the police had indeed been wrong about the suicide verdict. That it had, in fact, been murder. The investigating detective, Tanaka, took offense to someone reinvestigating what the man considered a closed case. Until he had solid proof, the police would be of little to no help.

A week later, in between two more cases which had only taken a day – or rather a night – to solve, Thomas discovered a disturbing truth, and came to a conclusion only someone as exhausted as he was could come up with.

After that, things went completely fubar, and if he’d been well-rested and not half-starved, he wouldn’t have been so careless.

He arranged a meeting with a suspected killer at a semi-deserted location.

As they were talking, something must have given Magnum away, and the killer had realized he’d been found out. The man blindsided him, and Thomas was down on the ground before he could defend himself properly.

Of course, it had been completely stupid of him not to have backup when meeting a potential killer after having been awake for nearly 40 hours straight, but somehow the backup had shown up anyway. They’d come out of practically nowhere and had saved him from being his client’s – Bristow’s – next victim.

He attempted to ask his friends how they’d happened to be in the right place at the right time, but a concussion plus sleep deprivation plus exhaustion pretty much equals almost immediate unconsciousness.

Magnum woke up in the hospital two days later, not having remembered anything of the other times he’d briefly awakened during that time. He wasn’t aware until later that, during one of those times, his friends had coaxed a barely coherent explanation out of him regarding why he’d been so busy and distant lately.

Due to the concussion and his exhaustion, plus the discovery of his dehydration and weight loss, Thomas needed to remain in the hospital for an extra couple of days, in part for tests. The doctor wanted to make sure there weren’t any underlying conditions causing the symptoms.

He’d been too exhausted to realize why he was undergoing extra tests at first, and then when he had realized, he stopped them, finally explaining his circumstances to his doctor. The other reason for stopping the tests was because he couldn’t stop thinking of just how large his hospital bill was growing by the minute.

From the surreptitious glances between his three friends, Thomas had a feeling they were waiting for him to get out of the hospital before laying into him about not taking proper care of himself. They’d all promised each other they wouldn’t ignore their health after they’d recovered somewhat from their ordeal as POWs, and he’d broken that promise in more than one way.

He was extremely tired, but only managed to catch cat naps here and there. His impending deadline to pay back his debt was looming ever closer, and he was currently unable to do anything about it, which made him restless and unable to relax enough to sleep. Hopefully, he’d be able to buy himself an extension with the money he had managed to put together so far.

His worry about his debt only left him more sleep deprived, which didn’t help his headache from the concussion, both things he knew his friends were concerned about, though so far they’d avoided the topic with him.

Nuzo drove him home from the hospital, which reminded him about his rental car. He mentally groaned at the idea it had been impounded and how much getting it released was going to cost him. He tried to keep Nuzo from coming in and fussing over him, hoping he’d be able to find some new work that day, but his brother wasn’t having it and escorted him into the guest house.

Once inside, he was surprised to see not only Rick and T.C. waiting for him, but Higgins as well, and their expressions told him they weren’t there for a welcome home party.

A crazy thought entered his mind: _Was this an intervention of some kind?_

He’d stopped mid-step at seeing his uninvited guests, but Nuzo got him moving again, steering him towards the couch and waiting for him to sit down.

Meanwhile, Rick had gone to the kitchen and got them some drinks, giving him a bottle of water instead of the beer Thomas wanted.

As Rick handed him the bottle, he said, “Tommy, you’re an idiot.”

Before he could ask for clarification, T.C. said, “Higgins, I think you owe Thomas an explanation.”

“And an apology,” Nuzo added, while glaring at the majordomo.

Higgins straightened up in her chair and placed her hands primly in her lap. “Magnum, I would like to apologize for my behavior regarding the Ferrari. I have no excuse other than not wanting to lose my job.”

Thomas knew he was still dealing with his exhaustion, but he could’ve sworn Higgins had actually apologized to him for something. Wait… Lose her job?

“You’re going to have to explain that last bit to me, Higgins.”

And so she did.

The reason she had been so hard on him about repaying the debt was because of the household accounts for Robins’ Nest. Paying for the damages out of that fund put it in the red by quite a lot because it was nearing the end of the quarter. She’d not wanted Mr. Masters to believe she was incapable of properly managing the estate when the quarterly reports, now due in only a few days’ time, showed the property running at a major deficit. That’s why she’d been hounding him about the money, wanting the funds replaced before the deficit could be discovered.

Higgins ended her explanation with another apology, focusing on the regret she had for causing, in part, the damage to his health. Thomas didn’t know what to say, but had decided to let it go if the two of them were ever going to find some sort of middle ground and get along.

She nodded and left, looking extremely uncomfortable, and mentioning the fact that the Ferrari was available for his use once more. Magnum idly wondered what his friends had said to her for Higgins to look so uncomfortable around them.

The four of them watched her leave, and then sat there completely silent for a few moments before he suddenly blurted, “I _am_ an idiot.”

“Now you’re getting it, brother,” T.C. said, while at the same time Rick chimed in with, “I already told you that, man.”

Nuzo just sat back and laughed at them.

“OK, which one of you called Robin?” Thomas asked after a moment.

Instead of one of them owning up, the three of them each pointed towards the other two. Thomas chuckled and shook his head, realizing it didn’t really matter who’d called.

“I’m guessing Robin set Higgins straight on a few things?”

T.C. chuckled. “Oh yeah.”

“Higgins now understands, had she informed Robin of the shortfall and the reason for it, then she wouldn’t have had to worry about anything – or take it out on you,” Nuzo said.

“And _you_ should’ve known better too.” Rick reached forward and lightly slapped his knee. “Robin doesn’t care if you pay him back, but he knows you’d try anyway and wouldn’t care how long it took.”

Thomas flushed because that thought had crossed his mind, but he’d discarded it for some reason, likely due to being tired and hungry at the time.

“I’m an idiot,” Magnum repeated, thinking of all of the grief he’d caused himself.

“I think we established that fact”—Nuzo started chuckling but quickly got himself partially under control—“a long, _long_ time ago.”

T.C. handed him an envelope. “This came for you earlier.”

Thomas opened the envelope, finding a short note wrapped around a check from Hillerman, one of his recent former clients. The check was enough to cover the entire cost of the Ferrari’s repairs _plus_ his rental car. If he was right, then there would be a little left over, which would provide him with some breathing room in terms of his finances. The note from Hillerman was very succinct and apologized for not covering the expenses related to the Ferrari earlier.

Magnum knew better than to ask how his friends had pulled it off, though he was curious. Perhaps they’d tell him someday over some beers and not when he was half brain dead.

Before he let the matter go for now, he had to say one thing: “Thanks, guys.”

Trying and utterly failing to look innocent, his friends in nearly-perfect concert said, “For what?”

They laughed and Thomas joined in, feeling the best he had in weeks despite how run down he still felt.

He asked his friends to explain how they’d found him, and sat back listening to their tale. As they spoke over each other, Thomas found it more and more difficult to keep his eyes open. He soon stopped fighting it, and closed his eyes, thinking he’d simply sit back and listen.

What he didn’t account for was his friends noticing he was flagging and then deciding to reposition him on the couch so that he was more comfortable.

After that, it was only a matter of moments before he fell into a deep sleep with his friends continuing to talk quietly as they kept watch over him – or so he assumed when he woke up the next morning and saw them camped out around him.

ooooooo

**_The end._ **

**ooooooo**

**Author's Note:**

> Apologies if the timeline is off a little and/or completely wrong. I don’t know and/or can’t remember the timing in regards to several details such as how long the guys have lived on Hawai’i . I borrowed the idea of the Bristow case from a book I read a while back – "A Cuckoo’s Calling" by Robert Galbraith. 
> 
> With the election in the U.S. coming up, I urge you to very carefully read and follow all instructions on your ballot when voting. Every vote counts.
> 
> Many thanks to Celticgal1041 for proofing. Any remaining mistakes are my fault. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!
> 
> *Please do not repost or use this or any of my other works on another site or app without my knowledge or consent. FanFiction and Archive of Our Own are the only two sites (as AZGirl on both) where my fiction should be posted. Thank you!


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